


Simulation

by VampirePaladin



Category: The Orville (TV)
Genre: F/M, Holodecks/Holosuites, Post-Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 06:35:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13405506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampirePaladin/pseuds/VampirePaladin
Summary: Alara shows Ed her new combat simulation for training with plans to ask him out to the ship's movie night at the end.





	Simulation

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mimm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mimm/gifts).



Alara Kitan and Ed Mercer dove for cover behind shipping crates as they came under heavy krill fire. They stayed well low of the incoming fire, bodies pressed to the hard, metallic floor. Alara glanced up at Ed to see that her captain was unharmed.

“Alara, this new training simulation is amazing,” Ed said as he grabbed for his own weapon to return fire.

“Thank you, sir, I’ve been working on updating the training protocols using information that we’ve gathered in our more recent skirmishes.” Alara bobbed up and fired a shot with her own weapon, taking down a holographic krill combatant. “Not just the krill either, I’ve updated seven different species based on typical and atypical combat as well as improved the AI.” 

Everything was going perfectly, once they got to the end of the simulation she’d ask him to movie night. She was nervous about asking the captain, a man she looked up, out on a date. Alara was also worried about Kelly taking it as a betrayal of her friendship, but it was Kelly herself that had encouraged her to finally work up the courage to ask him out. 

The ground shook, throwing everyone, both flesh and blood and holographic to the ground.

“That wasn’t part of the simulation,” Alara said as she picked herself up. 

The krill didn’t start returning fire, but she did hear something else. It was faint but growing louder. That sound… it was music.

“Never gonna give you up,” sang the krill. “Never going let you down. Never gonna run around and desert you.”

Ed groaned, “Just great. A holographic malfunction.”

“I thought John had those ironed out.”

“They’re never ironed out. Power surges, hits to the ship, interference, someone had beans for lunch, anything will cause them to glitch out and kill the people using them,” Ed said with a grim expression.

Alara stood up and straightened her uniform. “In that case, security protocols dictate that in the event of a holographic malfunction that you stay in character until rescue.”

The music was shifting as the krill were finishing their musical number.

“Just follow my lead,” Ed said. “And don’t you know I’m still standing better than I ever did? Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid,” Ed started to sing, Alara joining in at the parts that she knew.

Back and forth the song battle raged. The krill had the advantage of being holographic and therefore felt no strain from the constant singing. After forty-five minutes of the back and forth the doors opened and in stepped John LaMarr.

“What are the two of you doing?” he asked. “Your time was up fifteen minutes ago,” he said as he touched the button to pause the program.

“Holographic malfunction,” Ed said. “It turned Alara’s combat simulation into a singing battle.”

“So why didn’t you just turn it off?”

Ed and Alara looked back and forth at each other. It had never occurred to either of them that the shut down function would still be working even after the program had changed from a combat simulation program to a singing battle. The two then made quick excuses before rushing out, John laughing a little under his breath.

“Captain, I just wanted-“

“Will you go to the ship’s movie night with me?” Ed asked, interrupting Alara.

“Captain?”

“I’m sorry, about that but if I didn’t get it out then I don’t think I was going to get it out at all.”

“Yes, I’d love to go to the movie night with you!” Maybe it wasn’t exactly how she’d planned for it to go, but she was going out on a date with the one man on the ship that never seemed to be intimidated by her strength. She quickly gave Ed a hug before hurrying off.


End file.
